Booking

School Visit with Author Bethany Hegedus

BOOKING CONTACTSTo book Bethany Hegedus for writing workshops or school visits, please contact The Booking Biz.

AUTHOR PRESENTATIONS Each program is customized for each grade level and tailored to a school or classroom theme or curriculum unit, such as:celebrations and traditions; peace and nonviolence, racism and civil rights; and character and core values (respect, responsibility, perseverance, etc).

GRANDFATHER GANDHI PRESENTATIONS

Behind the Book:A reading and sharing of the book as well as an age appropriate overview of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Attendees can take the “Live your Life as Light” pledge, create anger journals and a charka craft (making spinning wheels from yarn and popsicle sticks). Older groups, discover the arduous journey to publication, the Quit India movement led by Gandhi and how his principles of non-violence influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In addition, details of how Bethany met and began working with Arun Gandhi – which came about because of her 9/11 experience working as a fire searcher at the WFC in New York.

TRUTH WITH A CAPITAL T PRESENTATIONS

Behind the Book: An overview of the Underground Railroad and the quilts that many believe carried coded messages to aid slaves in their escape to freedom. A guided discussion with students in regard to key themes, exploring research, and writing.

Get Engaged Readers Theatre: Get reluctant readers to read! And act! A prepared script of a key scene will be read, acted, and performed by students. By playing a character in Truth with a Capital T, the students will be able to see how slavery and the underground railroad—even in a funny contemporary setting—impacts their lives today—as it does Maebelle and Isaac, the two main characters in Truth with a Capital T.

Dig Deep – There’s a Story in There: Think you don’t have a story in you? Think again! Bethany believes story begins with character and character begins with YOU. Students will create a character sketch with back story and mine emotional memory from their past to add depth and layers to their characters.

BETWEEN US BAXTERS PRESENTATIONS

Behind the Book: An overview of the early civil rights years and guided discussion, exploring research, themes, and writing. Older groups, discuss the landmark decision of Brown v. the Board of Education and the opposition to integration by the Citizen’s Councils that formed thereafter.

Get Engaged Readers Theatre:Get reluctant readers to read! And act! A prepared script of a key scene will be read, acted, and performed by students. By playing a character in Between Us Baxters, the students will get to “try on” the dangerous circumstances that faced youth in 1959. A comparison/contrast discussion about friendships/family dynamics then vs. today will follow the scene reading.

Dig Deep – There’s a Story in There:Think you don’t have a story in you? Think again! Bethany believes story begins with character and character begins with YOU. Students will create a character sketch with back story and mine emotional memory from their past to add depth and layers to their characters.

PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR EDUCATORS

Meeting Gandhi’s Grandson: The inspiring story of how Bethany, a 9/11 survivor, asked Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun to collaborate on Grandfather Gandhi, prior to being published and the ins and outs of the twelve year journey.

Writing About Race and Across Class:Having grown up in the North and South, Bethany will share personal experiences of walking the “Mason-Dixon line” including teaching at a high school where the KKK was still active and why it’s important to talk about race and class with students.

PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR WRITERS

If You Build it, They Will Read: A Nuts & Bolts Approach to Scene & Structure: A craft based presentation on scene structure, Aristole’s incline, and the key scene needed in structuring a novel.

How to Turn Minor Memories into Full Blown Stories: Where the roots of the story come from: the minor moments of memory and how to develop them into full blown stories complete with character, setting, and conflict.

Promotion & Professionalism: How to Handle Any and All Breathe Deep Moments. Pitching in person, cocktail conversation, editor and agent phone calls (before and after an offer has been made) leaving your agent and other sticky situations.